AS A boom of breathtaking proportions pervades Dubai’s construction industry, leading contractor Al Habtoor Engineering (HEE) is upbeat about the developments and is of the belief that the buoyancy will continue for years to come, given the forward-focused and trendsetting nature of the emirate.

The Dubai-based firm is currently busy with at least 13 projects worth around Dh2 billion ($545 million) in the UAE alone, and is also involved in other developments in Egypt. HEE completed six projects last year including the prestigious Al Jaber Complex (Shangri-La Hotel) in Dubai (in joint venture with South Africa’s Murray and Roberts).
HEE – which specialises in build-only, design-and-build and joint venture projects as well as civil works and services projects – has played a leading role in building some of the finest structures in the UAE and aims to continue to grow as one of the leading construction companies in the region. For instance, it was involved in the Burj Al Arab, the tallest hotel in the world, and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel built on 75 acres of the Dubai shoreline.
The company is bidding for prestigious projects such as the main contracts for the multi-billion-dirham Jumeirah Beach Residence. “If we are successful it will put us in the niche of the market where we want to be,” enthuses Richard Corish, quality assurance manager at HEE.
Commenting about the market, he says: “The bidding fraternity has changed. Today we are seeing a whole lot of companies who were not in the market before.”
However, HEE holds a competitive edge because of its sound reputation and the fact that it has a wide umbrella of companies under the parent group, Al Habtoor Group of Companies, which support its activities, he says. It has gained further strength by forming strategic alliances with companies such as Murray and Roberts and Turkish firm STFA more recently.
With the UAE market offering ample opportunities, Corish says the company will focus on the Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets, this year.
He comments: “Our strategy will be to reduce our focus on overseas markets.  Why risk our capital dollar outside when we have a huge market right at our doorsteps?”   

Dubai Marina buildings
HEE’s largest current project at the Dubai Marina is the 43-storey Al Seef Tower, work on which is well under way.
Project director Suheil Al Rayes comments that it is an extremely fast-paced project. “A project of this nature generally takes at least 30 months, but we have a contract programme to complete it in 21 months. We started last May and expect to complete by the end of February next year.”
The Al Seef Tower – with a project value of Dh150 million excluding the piling, shoring, and excavation package – is a residential complex with two and three-bedroom apartments and penthouses, in addition to extensive leisure and entertainment facilities. 
One of the first tasks the team tackled was offering a value engineering service to the client so as make the entire structure more practical and economic. This involved decreasing the thickness of all the slabs, which reduced the foundation by about 60 m and the quantity of steel reinforcement of the vertical elements. This resulted in a substantial saving to the client. The responsibility of getting approval from the main consultant and then Dubai Municipality was also taken on by HEE.
“We managed the clearance in just six weeks – which usually takes about three months. Our consultants DAR (Design Architecture Bureau) played a great part in the clearance. The delay would have cut into our project completion time giving rise to many other complications. In a competitive atmosphere, as a professional construction company, we need to offer such comprehensive services,” he comments.
Currently, the core has been completed to the 20th floor, while slab work has reached the 19th floor, blockwork is up to 13th floor and plaster and MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) is under way at the eighth floor level. Curtain-walling work is set to commence shortly.
Al Habtoor is also busy with another tower in the Dubai Marina area.  The project for Dubai Marina Terrace Company calls for the construction of a 34-storey residential tower, with two basements and three podiums.
Work on the Dh104 million development was launched last August and should see completion by February next year. Norr Group Consultants is the consultant on the project.
Commenting on the progress at the project, Corish says: “The core has been completed to the 11th floor, and the slabs up to the ninth floor. Blockwork and MEP works are up to the first floor level. Meanwhile, we have completed work on the car-park structure which forms part of the project.”
This month will see the completion of piling work on two towers at the Jumeirah Beach residence (JBR4 and JBR6).
“These two separate contracts – carried out by a joint venture of HEE and STFA – run concurrently and call for the installation of bored, cast in-situ reinforced concrete piles for the tower blocks and podium levels at the Jumeirah Beach Residence,” explains Corish.
This sector contains five tower blocks, podium, underground parking and retail areas. The client is Tecom and the value of the contracts is Dh62 million. The overall project manager is Mace with Arif and Bintoak as consultant on JBR4 and DAR on JBR6.

Madinat Jumeirah
At the Dh540 million Madinat Jumeirah project, HEE – in partnership with Murray and Roberts Middle East – has completed all its contractual obligations and is currently working on the variations which are targeted for completion in June.
The 108,500 sq m (built-up) project – which has Mille Mirage Leisure and Development as the consultant - has involved the construction of a 300-bed hotel and 300 further bedrooms in villa blocks located around a system of waterways.

Metropolitan Beach Resort Towers
Meanwhile, HEE expects to sign a contract this month for the entire Metropolitan Beach Resort Towers project which is being built by the Al Habtoor group.  The mega development at Jumeirah Beach boasts two towers – one of 24 storeys and the other 18 storeys –offering 342 five-star hotel rooms and furnished apartments. It will have three basement levels and feature shops on the ground floor. 
The two towers rise from a two-storey podium and three levels of underground parking, providing slots for 282 cars. The hotel will host several international and theme restaurants and a 1,350 sq m state-of-the-art banquet hall.
HEE has already completed the diaphragm wall for the development and piling and preparations for the pouring of the raft foundation are now under way.

BurJuman Centre
A mega ongoing development that should be completed by mid-year is the expansion of the BurJuman Centre, a major shopping mall in central Dubai. HEE is carrying out the superstructure and external envelope of the expansion under a Dh275 million contract. 
The project, being developed on a 23,000 sq m site, comprises a five-storey retail podium, two 22-storey apartment towers rising to a height of approximately 100 m and a 21-storey apartment tower featuring decorative structural steel, which touches a height of 160 m. The total built-up area is 250,000 sq m. The client is BurJuman represented by Innotech Construction, while the project manager is Dar Al Handasah.
Work on the project was launched in April 2002 and has involved a number of variations, according to the contractor. The towers are close to structural completion and work has been launched on the curtain-walling for the project.

Other projects
The successful HEE&HMR joint venture is also working on the Dubai Airport Flower Centre which is targeted for completion next month (May). The two-storey concrete structure at Dubai Airport is being built within an existing steel structure. The client for the Dh13 million project is Department of Civil Aviation and the consultant is W S Atkins.
The joint venture launched work on the project last December.
Meanwhile, HEE expects to complete work this month on the Dh112 million Higher Colleges of Technology for Men, Ruwaiyyah, Dubai.
The college campus has entailed the contruction of 10 one- and two-storey buildings with a total built-up area of 44,868 sq m. The project also includes a swimming pool, aviation hangar and sports grounds with all associated external work. Client is Dubai Municipality, while the consultant is Dar Al Handasah.
Other major projects in the UAE include the Adnoc Group Companies headquarters, worth Dh274 million, and the Dh230 million Al Raha Beach Resort and the Bu Hasa infrastructure upgrade, all in Abu Dhabi
HEE, the founder member of the Al Habtoor Group of Companies, has offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman, Jordan and is represented in the US and the UK.